The hardest part of any journey is taking the first step. My first step felt like a huge leap of faith. My husband and I decide to move to Bali and I resigned from my corporate job in a global bank in Switzerland. Nine years ago I moved to Switzerland for my career. Now I felt it was time for a new chapter in my life. My husband, Marius and I wanted to move to Asia and experience new adventures. Beginning this new chapter of my life as a remote professional. I love to travel and am passionate about working with people to encourage them to get the best out of life. Now, I get to do this!
Some highlights from my journey, so far
We rented a villa when we were visiting Bali this summer. It was a nice villa however in need of some renovations. We still had some time to get things sorted. Resign from my job, move out of my apartment in Zurich and move my belongings back to the Netherlands before I was ready to pack my bags and jump on the plane to Bali.
Decluttering my life using the ‘Spark Joy” method
As part of the living lighter I also did a major decluttering job. I can promise you having less stuff to take care of, distract you or worry about makes your life a lot easier. I gave away a lot of things to people who needed it more than I do. They loved to see me come and where so immensely thankful. It feels good knowing my things are getting a good new home with someone who appreciates them.
Sparkes joy
Helpful tip in my decluttering process came from a great friend of mine. Rebecca put me on the path of Mari Kondo; the Japanese guru on decluttering and organising your stuff. The key take away for me was how does it feel if it makes you feel. If it “sparks joy” and makes you feel happy keep it! If not donate, recycle or bin it.
Declutter per category
Going through all your stuff in categories like e.g. books, clothing, kitchen makes a huge difference. Another great tip came from my mum – check the expiration date. Having two households I lost sight of all the things I had.
In the beginning I found Switzerland expensive so started a little shop in my cellar with supplies. I would bring back things from all my trips. I loved to travel and for my job I did a lot of that so you can imagine what I had accumulated over these nine years.
Moving expert
In my life I’ve moved so often that I have become really efficient in the moving process. How to pack, sort out the logistic process and the administration that goes with a move.
Starting fresh in a new country, new place, creating a home and making new friends. I know this takes time. From my own experience it takes about 6 months to settle in, get familiar with new culture & customs. It helps me to create new routines quickly and join a club or co-working space to make friends. This is great training for myself to have patience and be gentle with myself in the process.
Looking back the hardest part of the journey was really taking that first step. The living in uncertainty of what will come. Things that help be back then like e.g. I need to learn to drive my scooter. Are now part of my every day life. I drive on my Scoopy with our dog Zoe, a Golden Retriever, to the beach every day. We go for a nice swim and play on the surf board. Or the I” I don’t speak the language” I’m definitely not fluent yet but I can make myself understood in the shops and on the market in Bahasa Indonesia.
